


Owl Be Here

by KatcadeCascade (DreamWings231)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bird Qrow Branwen, Bird Shenanigans, Developing Friendships, Early Mornings, Fair Game is here because I'm weak, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Minor Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamWings231/pseuds/KatcadeCascade
Summary: The high branches of a courtyard tree are the stage for the opera of a crow and an owl. That may sound whimsical or majestic but trust James when he describes it as the most annoying thing to wake up to.It’s a real shame that he’s used to this crow shit.Clover, new to the bird shenanigans, asks the logical question, “Should we stop him?”The first time James interrupted Qrow’s spiel, he made the impulsive and rude decision to fire his pistol in the air. Whether he spent a minute debating on aiming at either bird is a lapse in judgment James will keep to himself.That resulted in both birds targeting James in the classic, enemy of my enemy is my friend tactic.“If you’re eager to get pecked and clawed at, by all means go ahead Captain Ebi.”
Relationships: Clover Ebi & James Ironwood, Minor Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi - Relationship, Qrow Branwen & Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen & James Ironwood
Comments: 11
Kudos: 124





	Owl Be Here

**Author's Note:**

> i still have a soft spot for james, i just want everyone to be happy

James was honest when he said it was good to see Qrow again. He missed his oldest friend, missed their banter and how Qrow would be the first to push against his logic, force James to rethink his less than sound plans.

It was nice to have Qrow and his kids in Atlas. He missed having real company who weren’t suits or soldiers.

Although, he could do without the bird fights in four in the morning.

Gods, James hasn’t dealt with this in years and yet it feels utterly normal to be awakening to the noise of what can only be described as a screaming death match. He recognizes the high pitch squalls of Qrow, too loud to forget.

So for the first time in a long while, James leaves his warm bed in search for the source of the commotion. His apartment is located far too close to his office to anyone’s liking so it’s a short walk from here to the apex of the dormitories.

There’s a main lobby and lounge area with access to the outside courtyard where James spies a crow and an owl roaring at each other.

Yep, that’s his closest friend alright.

James spends who knows how long sighing at the open doorway, thinking about closing it just to muffle out the two birds. This is by far the most effective alarm clock, albeit rather annoying but he knows Qrow’s not doing this to annoy him.

It doesn’t change the fact that James is annoyed though. He doubts he’s alone on that since this is the school dorms so he hopes Qrow will finish his argument with his nocturnal enemy.

Mindlessly he wonders which niece of the shapeshifter will snap awake first. He bets it will be Yang who convinces Qrow to stop while Ruby throws something at him.

But his guesses are wrong when it Clover who joins him on this not so quiet night.

“Sir, what,” the captain yawns and trudges over to see the broken symphony of screeches. “What is going on? It’s too early for whatever this is.”

“Tell that to Qrow.”

“Huh?”

“That’s Qrow up there, screaming at that owl.”

It was refreshing to see Clover out of uniform and in sweatpants and an academy standard muscle tank. The fuzzy socks are a nice touch.

According to his wide eyed staring the captain is shocked to catch his general in a similar state. Perhaps his silken robes are a tad surprise. It is practically the only thing James pampers himself with.

Sleepiness falls away from Clover as he processes the situation. The high branches of a courtyard tree are the stage for the opera of a crow and an owl. That may sound whimsical or majestic but trust James when he describes it as the most annoying thing to wake up to.

It’s a real shame that he’s used to this crow shit.

Clover, new to the bird shenanigans, asks the logical question, “Should we stop him?”

The first time James interrupted Qrow’s spiel, he made the impulsive and rude decision to fire his pistol in the air. Whether he spent a minute debating on aiming at either bird is a lapse in judgment James will keep to himself.

That resulted in both birds targeting James in the classic, enemy of my enemy is my friend tactic.

“If you’re eager to get pecked and clawed at, by all means go ahead Captain Ebi.”

It must be the lack of sleep that has Clover disregarding the chain of command to glare the general.

Clover steps passed him and made his way to the base of the tree. He yells up, “Qrow, please stop!”

James scoffs at the pleasantries. Qrow would always takes please as a challenge to further play up his antics. That and Qrow just loves to mess with James by getting a straight-laced man like him arguing with a bird. Glynda thought James as insane before Qrow revealed his magic trick.

Honestly that was more embarrassing than that time when James mistaken a regular bird as Qrow. That memory was more depressing than humiliating since it happened weeks after the Fall of Beacon.

He had really hoped Qrow visited him.

Any amusement left in James mellows out to curiosity as he watches Clover take up the mantle of persuading Qrow and the owl to shut up. Maybe Clover has better ways of words than James since eventually the owl flies off.

Qrow’s still in the tree. He flaps his wings in agitation and caws again.

“Qrow it is four in the morning,” Clover complained.

“Five,” James corrects as he studies the remaining stars above and the phase of the moon fragment.

He continues without missing a beat, “It is five in the morning! Get down here right now, please.”

Another fluttering of wings and then the crow glides down. He ignores Clover’s offered arm to land on his brown hair.

Yep that’s the Qrow James had missed.

“Clover,” James cocked his head a bit, gesturing for him to follow.

Carefully, the man walks with his general all the while balancing a bird on his head. Qrow squirmed around, shaping the strands into a fitting nest as James lead them to the closest communal kitchen. That just happened to be the one linked to the dorm assigned to Teams RWBY and JNOR.

This definitely promises coffee machines.

Almost instinctively, James goes through the motions of preparing three mugs of coffee. The beginning smells of it has Qrow shifting back into his human body, just as James predicted from the countless morning they did this.

And if memory serves, Qrow might not be entirely as human as he appears.

“So,” James politely begins like he always did, setting the mugs at the table, “what happened?”

A series of squawks and trills are the answer, along with Qrow dramatically waving his arms around like he still has wings.

James nods in key moments, letting Qrow rant in a language that, justified, he quite cannot comprehend.

Next to him, Clover is jaw slacken and can’t form a single thought as he bears witness to James and Qrow seemingly having a normal conversation over coffee.

Despite the obvious fact there are no pronounce-able words in the human tongue, of course.

“Wow that owl really said that to you?” James queried, a little dully but Qrow’s not going to call him out.

In fact the shapeshifter takes it as genuine, too caught up in his anger as he recounts the argument with the owl. Probably, James is just guessing but he’s had practice on reading Qrow’s body language.

There’s still that hunch in his spine, straighten up in his fury as more violent squawks leave his vocal chords. James once berated Qrow for such posture but that man never listened. He has to note that there is a difference in his stature since arriving with the kids.

Stress and grief always hung upon Qrow’s shoulders, mirroring James, but lately there has been less tension. This is likely the results of the kids’ influence. James can attest to that, finding relief and comfort in the children’s optimism.

Yet he can’t help but be pleasantly surprised by Qrow’s other source of happiness.

As arrogant as it sounds, James takes credit and pride for setting Clover in Qrow’s path. It’s about time one of his plans goes accordingly.

On a strategic perspective, both huntsmen are skilled fighters with styles that complement each other in the field. That’s proven correct from the success their mission reports.

But on a personal level and as their friend, James had high hopes the two of them would get along.

Both have their own grief and tragedies and struggles regarding the concept of partners, something James himself can also relate to. Qrow’s team was a story of fire constantly dying and reigniting while Clover’s lack of partner is a fable of the ocean’s tides claiming and withdrawing without a second thought.

An empty space of a partner is something they both want to fill back up, whether either would admit that or not. So James took it upon himself to appoint their team set.

Their unique semblances on the other hand are something he cannot speak for. That is private conversation for Qrow and Clover alone, James will not dare to interfere further on that matter.

He’ll just have to trust that whatever bond is growing between Qrow and Clover will be good for the both of them. It can grow from the heat of battle or the chill morning like right now where Qrow is currently far too nuzzled in his bird habits.

He focuses more into the bitter taste of coffee, enjoying its slowness compared to the rapid talk of Qrow’s trills. While he’s goes off about how much of an asshole the owl was, James notices Clover trying to get his attention through painfully confused facial expressions.

James hides a smile with his mug.

Subtly, something that Qrow won’t bother to care about, James shrugs in a way to show that this is pretty normal.

Clover still gives Qrow a concerned and baffled frown as more squawks are uttered.

A sort of cooing noise emits from Qrow’s throat. James flickers his eyes back to the bird man, crossed arm and waiting for his response.

Lying through his teeth, something that will for sure impress or anger Robyn Hill, James speaks with great certainty that he has been paying attention, “Yes, Qrow, I completely agree with you.”

Qrow nods in approval and this sets him off to rattle out more coos and clicks.

Meanwhile Clover stares dubiously at James, takes a long gulp of his coffee, and does a little shake of his head. A small sigh of defeat and resignation leaves the man.

Good, it’s best to accept this all.

Of all the insane things that could happen, having a conversation with a shapeshifter still speaking as his namesake is a blessing compared to anything else Ozpin had a hand in.

Still, to Qrow this is a normal conversation so at some point in James turning off his brain to just drown out his mug, Clover is prompted to speak.

“Um,” he blinks owlishly with an uncertain smile, “I think…”

His teal eyes dart around, seeking help but James is ignoring them, closed eyed but the tiniest of amused smiles is there. Clover nearly wants to kick him underneath the table but no Clover can handle this.

Still, having Qrow’s red eyes peer into him expectedly is a bit nerve wracking.

Beautiful and bright, Clover admits but it’s not the time or the place what with only one cup of coffee in his system.

“I think,” he continues, a slight hesitance in his tone, “that um.” Well he could always fall back on one thing, “I think that you’re absolutely amazing. That owl has nothing on you.”

Apparently that is the right thing to say. Clover could kiss his lucky pin when Qrow blushes and does a low coo. Maybe it’s a deflection, Clover has no idea but it doesn’t appear so as Qrow continues his clicks and caws. 

Then finally, Qrow takes a sip from his coffee and as if he hasn’t been speaking in chirps and clicks, complains, “That ratty flying piece of roadkill better not show his awful peak here again or I will bring down the full force of Harbinger on that fucker.”

His two companions nod in agreement, James’ was a bit lazier and tired while Clover’s was kind of jerky and surprised.

It’s so nice to have pleasant company in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
